diff --git a/docs/plan/23-init-owns-the-files.md b/docs/plan/23-init-owns-the-files.md
new file mode 100644
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+++ b/docs/plan/23-init-owns-the-files.md
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+# Step 23: Init Owns the Files, `tools/remote` Wraps
+
+Prerequisites: step 21 session D (the role-named `tools/remote`).
+Read `README.md` first.
+
+## The Problem
+
+`werkator init` and `tools/remote` overlap: both write the machine config — init as a commented template, the script by appending heredoc blocks (`bwrap`, `server`) and patching values with `sed`.
+The script re-implements configuration knowledge Werkator owns (YAML shape, indentation, key names), outside the three-places sync invariant — the indentation-mismatch of one append guard produced nine duplicate `bwrap` blocks on mih34 before it was found.
+Smaller duplications of the same kind: the script re-implements control-token generation in bash (`ControlTokenService` owns it), and `check-prerequisites` still pipes the bash script whose generic half exists as `werkdock doctor`.
+
+## The Decision (2026-09-01)
+
+Werkator becomes the executing app wherever possible; `tools/remote` shrinks to a wrapper: build artifacts locally, transport them, execute Werkator/werkdock remotely, switch services.
+
+Parameters travel as **files**, not as many CLI options — and each side gets the format that is native to it (refined 2026-09-01):
+
+- The **wrapper** keeps a small, bash-sourceable env file with the transport values only: `tools/remote --env .env.mih34 werkator repo-init` selects the target (default: `.env`), so several instances (`.env.mih34`, `.env.vm4006`, later a Werkbaum instance) are files, not edits.
+- **Werkator** takes a **YAML fragment in its own config schema**: `werkator init --apply mih34.yml` deep-merges the fragment into the machine config, idempotently — creating sections that are missing, updating the given values, never duplicating.
+  No mapping table exists: the fragment says `server: {port: …}` and `builds: {default: {bwrap: …}}` directly, is validated by the existing schema binding, and is documented by the existing `docs/configuration.md`.
+- The wrapper uploads the fragment alongside the artifacts and calls `werkator init --apply …` remotely — the heredocs and `sed` calls in `tools/remote` disappear.
+- The env file names the fragment (`WERKATOR_INIT_CONFIG=mih34.yml`), keeping one entry point per instance.
+
+The removed legacy env-to-YAML conversion stays removed — there is no conversion at all anymore: the fragment already *is* configuration in the one schema, applied once at setup time; the server reads nothing but its YAML at runtime.
+
+## The Files per Instance
+
+- `.env.mih34` (wrapper): `WERKATOR_REMOTE`, `WERKATOR_PATH`, `WERKATOR_LOCAL_PORT`, `WERKATOR_REPO_URL`, `WERKATOR_ROOTFS` (the *local* archive to upload), `WERKATOR_INIT_CONFIG`.
+- `mih34.yml` (init fragment): `server.*` (port, publicBaseUrl, systemd limits) and `builds.default.bwrap.*` (enabled, the *remote* rootfs path, werkdock path) — exactly the blocks the script used to append.
+- Secrets (`git.token`, `gitea` keys) stay out of both files on purpose — they are entered in the machine config on the host, as today.
+
+## The Sessions
+
+### A — Werkator side
+
+- `init --apply FILE`: deep-merge the YAML fragment into the machine config — reusing the loader's merge, creating missing sections, updating given values, never duplicating (the duplication class dies here); a fragment that fails the schema binding or carries unknown keys is refused loudly.
+- `init --systemd` keeps generating the units; decide in the session whether the Apache `.htaccess` becomes part of the host-integration output when the applied config carries `server.port` and a public domain (proposal: yes, under `init --systemd`, since it is generated host integration exactly like the units).
+- New subcommand `werkator control-token`: print the token, creating it exactly like `ControlTokenService` does — the bash duplication in the wrapper dies.
+- Tests per the writing-tests conventions; `docs/bootstrapping.md` documents `--apply` (the fragment keys need no new reference — they are ordinary `docs/configuration.md` keys).
+
+### B — Wrapper side
+
+- `tools/remote --env FILE` (default `.env`); the init fragment named by `WERKATOR_INIT_CONFIG` is uploaded, and the remote init runs with `--apply`.
+- `repo-init` and `instance-start` lose their heredoc/`sed` config writing; `control-token` delegates to the new subcommand.
+- `check-prerequisites` uploads the werkdock binary first and runs `werkdock doctor`; `tools/werkator-build-prerequisites.sh` retires (its werkdock port is the survivor).
+
+### C — Live verification and docs
+
+- Run the full wrapper flow against mih34 (`instance-update`, `repo-init`, `instance-start` as no-op re-runs); `docs/deployment.md`'s webspace section switches to the `--env` invocations.
+
+## Acceptance Criteria
+
+- Session A: `werkator init --apply …` merges and re-merges a fragment idempotently; `werkator control-token` exists; full suite green.
+- Session B: `tools/remote` contains no YAML heredocs and no `sed` into the machine config; the prerequisites bash script is gone.
+- Session C: the mih34 re-runs change nothing on a configured host and the deployment docs show only `--env`-style calls.
diff --git a/docs/plan/README.md b/docs/plan/README.md
index a6a0d00..4cfadd0 100644
--- a/docs/plan/README.md
+++ b/docs/plan/README.md
@@ -95,6 +95,10 @@ Added to correct the bwrap prototype's drift toward self-building on the webspac
 
 - [ ] `21-werkdock-extraction-and-webspace-install.md` — roadmap in four sessions: close step 17's open ends, grow the sandbox tooling into **Werkdock** (a docker-like filesystem-only sandbox CLI, developed in the `werkdock/` subdirectory, later its own repository), let Werkator consume it, and replace the webspace self-build with the local-build-plus-install path of ADR 0006
 
+Added after step 21 session D exposed that `tools/remote` re-implements configuration Werkator owns (2026-09-01):
+
+- [ ] `23-init-owns-the-files.md` — Werkator becomes the executing app, `tools/remote` a thin wrapper: the wrapper takes a transport env file (`remote --env .env.mih34 werkator …`), init takes a YAML fragment in the real config schema (`werkator init --apply mih34.yml`, deep-merged idempotently — no mapping table, no heredocs), `werkator control-token` and `werkdock doctor` replace the bash duplications
+
 Added for surfacing build time as a trend (2026-08-31):
 
 - [ ] `20-build-duration-tracking.md` — a per-name duration trend over the existing history, derived on read in the History view: series, window average/min/max, and a visible marker when the latest build is slower than its window average (grouped by the history's own `name`, so branch builds and named jobs stay separate — complements Step 14, which owns phase timing)
@@ -110,3 +114,4 @@ Step 18 depends on nothing in code but on the watched repository having migrated
 Step 19 depends on nothing; `WatcherState` and `/api/watcher` already carry everything it needs to render.
 Step 20 depends on nothing; the duration is already recorded, and the trend is derived read-only from `repository.history()`.
 Step 21 depends on 17; its sessions B and C grow Werkdock in the `werkdock/` subdirectory (later its own repository), and session D supersedes the self-build prototype in `tools/remote`.
+Step 23 depends on 21 session D; its per-instance file convention (transport env + init fragment) also feeds step 22's instance setup and should land before Werkbaum rolls out.
diff --git a/docs/prs/2026-09-02-PR#8-step-23-plan-init-owns-the-files.md b/docs/prs/2026-09-02-PR#8-step-23-plan-init-owns-the-files.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b407b55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/prs/2026-09-02-PR#8-step-23-plan-init-owns-the-files.md
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+> **WARNING:** This document describes only the change applied in this PR.
+> It may already be outdated once the next PR is merged.
+> Historic PR-documentation is not maintained along with new PRs — treat it as a snapshot, not as current documentation.
+
+## The Problem
+
+`werkator init` and `tools/remote` overlap: both write the machine config — init as a commented template, the script by appending heredoc blocks and patching values with `sed`.
+The script re-implements configuration knowledge Werkator already owns (YAML shape, indentation, key names) outside the three-places sync invariant; an indentation mismatch in one append guard produced nine duplicate `bwrap` blocks on mih34 (step 21 session D) before it was found.
+Smaller duplications of the same kind: the script re-implements control-token generation in bash, and `check-prerequisites` still pipes a bash script whose generic half now exists as `werkdock doctor`.
+
+## Non-Goals
+
+- Implementing the change — this PR is the plan only; PR #9 implements it.
+- Multi-repository support for one Werkator instance (step 22, PR #10).
+
+## The Solution
+
+`docs/plan/23-init-owns-the-files.md` records the decision: Werkator becomes the executing app wherever possible, `tools/remote` shrinks to a wrapper.
+Parameters travel as files, each side getting the format native to it: the wrapper keeps a small env file with transport-only values (`--env-file FILE`, mirroring Docker's flag naming since `--env` there means a single variable); Werkator takes a YAML fragment in its own config schema, applied via a new `init --apply FILE`, validated by the existing schema binding and needing no separate mapping table.
+The plan was refined once during review: the first sketch proposed an env-file-only transport; the fragment being a first-class YAML file in Werkator's own schema replaced that, so there is no env-key-to-config-key conversion table to maintain at all.
+Three sessions are laid out: A (Werkator side: `init --apply`, `control-token` subcommand), B (wrapper side: `tools/remote` loses its heredocs), C (live verification on mih34 and doc updates).
+
+## Prerequisite PRs
+
+- PR #7 (webspace install path) — this plan corrects the remaining duplication that PR left in place.
+
+## Follow-up PRs
+
+- PR #9: implements sessions A, B, and C of this plan.